Why Me?
by Jaded Devil
Summary: Everyone thinks that Ren is cool and has the ideal school life, especially with his 'I don't care' attitude. When Horo's sister, Pirika, starts attending the school, she takes Ren's 'who cares' attitude as shyness! How will he cope now?


Hey. I've changed my penname from Slowpokey Turtle to Jaded Devil. Got that? Great! I just don't want any confusions…

Well, this is my fifth attempt at writing fanfiction. Read my profile if you don't know what I'm talking about!

Hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did…hahaha…evil laugh

Warning: Characters ARE OOC…and it's A/U. I've made Pirika into a chatterbox…

* * *

Why Me?

Chapter 01

Everyone saw the world with a different perspective.

There were the people with shining eyes, showing how much they appreciated the world and things in life. There were people with critical eyes, pessimistic and cynical. From the golden eyes of Ren Tao, the world was a dark and gloomy place.

In the many different pairs of eyes belonging to fellow teenagers who saw Ren Tao in their own perspective, all assumed the same thing.

Independent, dangerously good-looking, the cool I-don't-give-a-damn attitude… What more did a guy need to survive in the world? He must be the luckiest guy in the entire world, one said. The truth was, Ren was none of those things. Okay, maybe even he had to admit he was dangerously good-looking, but he was so much more than those three things.

The problem was, so many people expected those things were him, carved in stone…

He had no time to find himself, no matter how typical that sounded. All he needed was someone to see him in a different way…

* * *

"My sister's coming tomorrow," Horo Horo announced. "I promised her that she can eat lunch with us everyday."

"Great! We'll have another friend to add into our group!" It was a typical answer expected from Yoh "Happy-go-lucky" Asakura.

"Yeah!" Tamao agreed. "It's always nice to meet someone new!"

Horo blabbered on. "She's two years younger than us, so if anyone of you pick on her, you're going to have to go through me!"

He held up a fist to prove his point.

"That's nice. A baby to look after…" Ren muttered. He was lucky that Horo missed his last remark as he continued eating his lunch box.

"I expect that she'll be gone from our so-called 'group' by the end of this week," Anna said, taking out a slice of pickle from her chicken sandwich. "She _is_, after all, two years younger. Don't you think she'll make new friends by then?"

"What Anna said is true, you know…" Manta said. "I assume that your sister is a normal ninth-grader, which makes her especially social… Psychologist Dr. Matthews says so."

He rummaged through his bag, pulling out an extremely thick textbook with the words, 'Dr. Matthews' Child Psychology' embedded on the cover.

"Uh…very nice, Manta…you can put it away now," Yoh laughed. "So, Horo, tell us more about this sister of yours. Why haven't we seen her before?"

"You all know our parents are divorced… She lived with mom, I live with dad… Pirika's been home-schooled for practically her whole life! Which proves you wrong, Manta! Ha! I'm smarter than the grade 11 Einstein!"

"Stop that. You're acting stupid, which isn't exactly becoming," Anna said snootily.

"Oh. Yeah." Horo laughed sheepishly. "So…Pirika isn't exactly social…she told me that she's really excited to come to our public school, 'cause she never really had the chance to make friends! Did I tell you she studies psychology? She's into all that junk about cynical people and brooding people… I think she'll just get along great with you, Einstein."

"Well, she certainly sounds quite intelligent," Manta said thoughtfully. "Does she read Dr. Matthews' Child Psychology books?"

"Uh…I think she does… I remember seeing at least four volumes in the bookcase when she moved in," Horo replied, scratching his head. "She's so darn smart! I forgot to tell you guys… When I came with her to the school office a few days ago, the teachers said she was so smart, she's going to be in grade 11 instead of grade 9, 'cause she'll be discouraging to the other grade 9 students. Isn't that crazy? My little sister's going to be in our grade, our classes!"

As the rest of the group went on and on about how smart Horo's sister was, nobody noticed that one teenager left the group…

* * *

"Pathetic, getting all excited about a stupid female coming to our school…" Ren Tao walked down the hallway, oblivious to the dark scowl on his face. It was a natural habit to him now, scowling. To him, it was as natural as smiling at a funny joke.

"It's Ren! He was in my science class last year…he's sooooo smart!"

"Wow, Trish, you're really lucky! I don't have any classes with him…"

Ren rolled his golden eyes. Stupid females. Why were they always giggling when he came by? He certainly did nothing to encourage that…

He never knew how to deal with the female population of the school. He had been, for countless times, been urged by his friends to get a girlfriend; maybe he'd loosen up after that. Ren Tao never had a girlfriend in his life. His life was perfectly fine. Why start now, when there was the risk that a girlfriend would be the very downfall of his perfectly organized life?

Apparently, not caring was the problem. Those giggling girls in the halls _loved_ the 'I-don't-give-a-damn' attitude. They thought it was mysterious and that it made guys cool. Sometimes, he suspected that Horo was jealous of him, due to the number of girls who flock around him. The biggest thing that bugged Horo, though, was the fact that Ren didn't care about all those girls flocking around. He didn't even look at them or acknowledge them. That seriously annoyed Horo, because…if Ren were so cold to them, why the hell would they still bother hanging around?

"Where IS he? He is sooooo dead when I find him…"

Ren turned his head slightly, to see a girl with long, pale-blue hair, standing outside the school office with her hands on her hips. A headband kept her hair back, and her pale cheeks were flushed with a faint dusting of pink, the expression on her face definitely annoyed and murderous.

He studied her facial characteristics. The cheekbones…the shape of the nose…the heart-shaped face…if not a hundred percent similar, there was at least ninety. Was she…

"What are YOU staring at?" The girl snapped, disrupting Ren's concentration. He directed his gaze up to her eyes and stared intently.

"Nothing…" he muttered, looking to the side awkwardly.

"Hey."

"…"

"Hey, you! I'm talking to you!"

"…"

"You, with the cone-shaped head, I'm talking to you!"

"No one insults my hair…"

"I didn't insult your hair! I insulted your head, Coney!"

Ren stared at the girl. Head? She thought…

"You think this cone is part of my head…?"

"Isn't it?"

"No…it's my HAIR!"

"Oh…I didn't expect that. I thought you might have an irregular shaped head, because some kids have weirdly shaped skulls, which affects the way their head is shaped. Then it affects the way your hair looks, and then the kids turn all gloomy and brood all day…"

"…"

The girl glared at him. "You don't talk much, do you…"

"When I don't have a reason to talk, I don't talk. Right now, I don't have anything to say to you."

"If you don't have anything to say to me, why are you still standing here, Coney?" She asked slyly, a twinkle of mischief barely visible in her blue eyes.

"Because…because…"

"You know, Coney, it's alright to be shy. Shy people get over their shyness very easily. Just socialize more, talk more to people who are only your acquaintances, practice public speaking, and in no time at all, you'll find your shyness gone! Dr. Matthews, the author of 'Dr. Matthews' Child Psychology' says so. There are so many things about shy people in that book! You should read it sometimes! I have it here in my bag……."

She thought Ren was shy. She thought that his 'I-don't-give-a-damn' attitude was shyness. Shyness. SHYNESS, damn it!

"I'm not shy-"

"Quiet, Coney! That' s what all shy people say. Dr. Matthews says so! That's what I'm trying to do by talking more to you. Tell you what, Coney, I'll be your psychologist starting from tomorrow! I'll guarantee that by the end of this school year, your shyness will be gone for good! You'll be able to-"

"Are you Horo's sister?"

"…HORO! You know him? That's great! Now I don't have to wait anymore! Take me to him, okay, Coney? And then I'll kill him and you can back me up. We're friends, after all…well, not really friends, but psychologist and client are close enough. C'mon, take me to Horo. I'm Pirika, by the way. Horo's younger sister."

"Horo said you were coming tomorrow…"

"That stupid older brother of mine! I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind… Oh, and Coney, it's great that you're talking to me. It's a perfect way to overcome shyness, you know that?"

"I told you, I'm not-"

"What's your name? I really like Coney, but…I guess I shouldn't call you that if you don't like it. Do you like Coney? It's a cute name, really, it is! Hey, why aren't we walking? You said you'd take me to Horo!"

Ren sighed, trying to keep the volcano inside him from erupting. When was the last time he'd been this annoyed at someone? When was the last time he even talked this much within ten minutes?

"My name's Ren…and I don't like the name Co-"

"Okay, Coney, take me to Horo! And I still think it's great that you're trying to overcome your shyness by talking to me. I know why you were looking at me! It's because I look sooooo much like a psychologist! You were looking for someone to help you overcome your shyness, weren't you! You know, you could've just asked me!"

"…"

He walked down the hall, in the direction of where he had come from, the hyper girl following closely and chattering the whole way. How did he get landed in this mess again? Oh yeah, by _looking_ at her. What a joke. And she thought he was SHY. Shy. One thing for sure, Ren Tao did not like being called shy. The 'I-don't-give-a-damn' attitude was supposed to be cool, NOT shy!

Why the heck did Horo have such a weird sister? And why was it that Ren would get landed with her? Life was unfair.

* * *

How was it? I've never really read/watched Shaman King, so I think the characters' personalities are waaaay off. Please tell me ways on how to improve the characters! I know that I made Pirika really freaky, and I think Ren's attitude is too…not-like Ren. Please give me some pointers!

Please review! I really appreciate them.


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